Through Death
by herethereeverywhere
Summary: A one-shot sure to be a tear-jerker. A revelation fic with a deadly twist. Rated T for mentions of blood, death, etc.


**Hey guys, I know it's late when you probably get an alert for this story, but the idea just came to me and I had to get it out before I forgot (you know how it is). Anyway, prepare to cry. You have been warned.**

Danny Phantom floated above a random street in Amity Park on a Friday night, holding a Fenton Thermos that contained Skulker. He was absolutely wiped out from tonight's battle and was surprised he hadn't passed out yet and de-transformed. His friends Sam and Tucker stood on the ground, giving him encouraging smiles and thumbs up from below. He half-smiled, returning the favor, and began to drift down towards them to call it a night.

That all changed when he spied an orange-clad man leap from an alleyway, a large bazooka-type weapon at the ready. "Don't worry, kids, I'll save you!" Jack Fenton shouted as he charged up the gun. It fired a swirling mass of green ecto-plasmic energy past Danny, missing due to the man's poor shooting skills.

The ghost boy immediately responded by dodging the blast, though it had been too far off to do any damage. But another projectile burned the jumpsuit on his left side as it skidded past. This one had been fired by a petite woman in a blue get-up and red goggles. "Step away from the children, ghost!" Maddie Fenton shouted, open firing on Phantom.

He dodged the blasts, feeling himself slipping from consciousness with every attempt. As a last ditch effort because he did not have the energy to hold off any longer, he turned around and prepared to take off. In that split second, an ecto-plasmic swirl came in contact with his back, causing the ghost to writhe in pain mid-air. Then he plummeted to the earth.

The Fenton's were too caught up in the moment of success to register Sam's scream of agony as the ghost boy hit the ground behind a tree. Tucker tried in vain to hold her back, but to no avail. She was at Danny's side a moment after the Fenton's, who were about to chain up the beaten and bleeding (green ectoplasm, mind you all) boy.

Suddenly, a startling flash of white light blinded the small group. When they looked back, Jack and Maddie were shocked and scared.

'No, he's just fooling us, disguising himself as our son.' Maddie thought as she looked to where he lay, now a normal teenage boy they knew so well.

But her worst doubts were confirmed by Sam's reaction. "DANNY!" She screamed, kneeling down and cradling his head in her lap. Tears streamed down her cheeks and landed on Danny's blood stained shirt. Red began to show up on the white fabric at an alarming rate.

Maddie screamed at the sight of her son before her, bleeding to death. "JACK! Go get me the first aid kit NOW!" She screamed with urgency and the man rushed back to the RV at once. Neither one tried to process a scientific explanation for what had just occurred; the only thing on their minds was their son now.

"Sam?" Danny's voice was barely audible, a trail of blood coming from his lips as he sputtered the word.

"Danny?" Sam asked, hope filling her eyes for just a moment. But only a moment. "Don't leave me!" She screamed as Danny's head lolled back and his eyes rolled back into his head.

Jack arrived only a second after, too late. Maddie burst out into tears and Sam let her hold the lifeless body that was once the Danny they knew and loved. She cried, mascara running down her face, not giving a care in the world who saw.

A few neighbors came out to see what the commotion was about and gasped when they saw the sight. Madeline Fenton cradled her boy on the sidewalk, her hands red. Some began to sob as well, having known the boy was an all-around good kid in the neighborhood.

What they saw next would haunt them for years to come, burning its imagine into their eyes. A white light escaped from the boy's body and hovered before the parents and two friends. It took the form of a human silhouette and then the features became clearer: white hair, green eyes, bold "D" logo on a black jumpsuit. Danny Phantom hovered before them, a look mixed with confusion and depression on his face.

Maddie's face became contorted with rage, causing the ghost to back up in fear. "Did you...kill...my son?" She asked, hatred laced in with her words.

"Mrs. Fenton, that is Danny." Sam said softly, keeping her tear-stained face down. Maddie returned a look of confusion to Sam and then her eyes went back up to the ghost as the Goth continued. "Remember when the portal got turned on, but you didn't know how Danny did it?" The woman nodded. "Well, it's hard to explain, but something happened that day. Danny became the Phantom, it was part of him from then on. Mrs. Fenton, half of Danny died that day. He became our protector."

"All this time, you mean..." Maddie trailed off as more tears spilled from her eyes against her will. She looked up at Phantom, no, Danny with sorrow and regret.

Danny floated down, seeing the state his mother was in. He took her chin in a gloved hand and lifted it up, violet meeting toxic green. He pulled her into a hug, startling the woman at first. But she pulled him down so that he was sitting in her lap like a little boy. Jack kneeled down as well, embracing his wife and child.

"I'm sorry, Mom, I-" Danny tried to say, but Maddie hushed his echoing and distant voice with a finger. She hugged him again, not wanting to let go. "Mom, I need to go." He said, snapping her back to reality. Bringing her back to the fact that he was dead. She had killed her son.

"Mom, you need to go on. Don't give up here, don't stop now. Dad needs you. Jazz needs you." Danny grasped at anything to say to his mom, her eyes filled with pain.

"How can I live knowing the fact that I killed my own son?" She asked so quietly that no one else could hear.

Danny shuddered. "You need to promise me you won't try to end your life. Killing yourself won't bring you any closer to me." The truth of the words stung Maddie, but she knew he was only saying that to protect her.

Maddie shook her head slightly, more tears falling, though she didn't know where they were all coming from. "You need to promise me," she said, "that you won't leave me."

Danny looked up at her, sadness flashing across his face. Though he didn't want her to, she saw, and knew that promise was a tough one. After searching for the right words, he replied, "I could never bring myself to leave you."

After a moment of more embrace, he pulled apart, though no one wanted the moment to end. "I have to go, but I'll be back." He floated over to Sam and surprisingly touched down on the ground in front of her. He helped her to her feet, cupping her face in his hands. "Sam," he breathed, moving closer to her. He kissed her on the cheek and dropped something cool into her open hand. "I love you forever and always." A single tear fell and he caught it with a finger.

Danny took a step away from his family. He found his eyes drawn to the mess of a body that was once his, to his mother's red hands, to all of their wet faces. He nodded regretfully and took his leave. "I promise I will be back." He said finally, taking off into the milky twilight to somewhere beyond.


End file.
